1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electrical connector having a housing made of insulation material and a metallic contact element, which can be arranged in the housing and has an insulation-piercing contact region and a crimp contact region which, in the direction of the longitudinal axis of a cable that can be introduced, adjoins the insulation-piercing contact region and is conductively connected to it.
2. Summary of the Prior Art
There are many applications for which it is desirable to be able to use the insulation-piercing technique. However, one disadvantage of the insulation-piercing technique is that the contacts are very sensitive with respect to the diameter of the insulated conductors with which contact is to be made. However, since in the normal case it is to be assumed that it is not known from the beginning what cable size is intended to be connected using an insulation-piercing contact, this technique often cannot be used. The reason why insulation-piercing structures are so sensitive with respect to diameter fluctuations is that the cutter, which is intended to cut through the insulation, must reach the inner conductor.
DE 43 24 841 A1, which is representative of the prior art, has specified a method and a device for the power supply to optional, electrically-driven, special equipment devices, for example in a motor vehicle. For this purpose, a cable of a basic production cable set is connected by means of an electrical connector to a cable leading to the special equipment device. The electrical connector has a housing made of insulation material. Arranged in the housing is a contact element shaped from sheet metal and having an insulation-piercing contact region for the electrical cable and unitary with at least one further electrical connection region for making contact with at least one further electrical cable. The housing is divided into two chambers, one of which accommodates the insulation-piercing contact region and the other the further connection region. The two chambers are connected to each other via a passage, through which there passes a connecting web between the insulation-piercing contact region and the additional connection region. This citation does not reveal how an insulation-piercing structure can be used for cables with different diameters.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,596 likewise discloses the use of insulation-piercing structures. In this case, cables or cable ends are first fixed in a strain-relief region and contact is then made with them by means of an insulation-piercing structure. In each case, one pair of insulation-piercing structures is connected to each other and is surrounded on the outside by a pair of strain-relief regions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,670 likewise discloses an electrical connector having an insulation-piercing contact region. This printed document discloses the construction of the insulation-piercing contact element in a U shape, two opposite insulation-piercing blades being arranged in each case on the limbs of the U.